Documents show a link

The company used the same address — 18838 La. 3235, Galliano — as Grand Isle Shipyard. Six months later the company's name changed to D&R Offshore Inc. It dissolved in September 2008.

The three men are also behind other companies with similar names. D&R Resources was created in January 2007, the same day Malagapo and Pregeant's other company changed its name.

Records show D&R Resources is an active business and has had three directors: Malagapo, Dayao and Cutiepie Nilfil R. Peralta. Its business address is a Golden Meadow house owned by Pregeant and occupied by Malagapo.

Contacted there in December, Malagapo declined an interview request.

"I'm not supposed to talk to you about it because this is already in the court," he said. "So we'll just leave it to the court."

He also repeatedly denied a link between Grand Isle Shipyard and D&R Resources.

But Malagapo's signature is on Grand Isle Shipyard work certifications. His name is included on Grand Isle Shipyard letterhead as the company's treasurer and executive manager. And his email address is tied to Grand Isle Shipyard's website.

Documents show Grand Isle Shipyard executives are also behind Thunder Enterprises, another company that helped bring Filipino workers to Louisiana under a specialized visa. The paperwork notes that D&R Resources Inc., is a 50/50 joint venture between Malagapo and Dayao and Thunder Enterprises.

Thunder Enterprises is a Louisiana corporation established in 1996. Its directors are Mark Pregeant, the CEO of Grand Isle, and Bryan and Brad Pregeant, its vice presidents.

The immigration paperwork states that Thunder Enterprises invested $200,000 in D&R Resources Inc. in the form of two $100,000 promissory notes secured by Malagapo's and Dayao's real estate holdings in the Philippines.

Under this set-up, the companies can bring Filipino laborers here under a specialized E-2 investor visa, which allows workers to stay longer. It's also renewed more easily.

The E-2 visa is for people coming to this country to develop and direct a significant business interest. It does not apply to ordinary skilled or unskilled workers, according to the U.S. State Department.

Several workers had E-2 visas, but said they weren't sure what the terms meant.

Asked if he had invested in any recruiting company, Ferdinand Garcia said, "No, they just want us to pretend, I think, to be an investor."

Yet another company, DNR Offshore and Crewing Services, employed the workers who died in the platform explosion.

Created in 2008, DNR Offshore and Crewing Services is based in the Philippines and registered with the Philippines Overseas Employment Administration.

Records show Peralta, the same man behind D&R Resources, is the head of DNR Offshore and Crewing Services. More than a dozen Filipino workers said the company's name includes initials of the first names of the three men behind it – Danilo Dayao, Nilfil Peralta and Randolf Malagapo.

Who's in charge?

Cacdac said his office doesn't have any complaints on file against DNR Offshore and Crewing Services, and "we are still trying to see if whether there are criminal investigations going on the American side."

No one from the U.S. government has contacted him, he said.

Ferdinand Garcia said he called the Philippines Overseas Employment Administration years ago to complain.

"I used to talk to them back in 2010. December of 2010," he said. "I told them about the unsafe acts of (Grand Isle Shipyard) and the things that they were doing to us."

Garcia said he was told to take his complaints to the recruitment company who hired him.

Cacdac can recommend the Philippine government open a criminal or civil investigation. But his office receives more than 4,500 complaints a year and just 16 investigators.

And, Cacdac says, his office isn't solely responsible.

"Once that worker is in the U.S., then obviously, that worker is under the jurisdiction of U.S. law and the policy," he said. "At that point, it is the receiving country, in this case the United States, that now handles the welfare and working conditions, etc, of that migrant worker."

The U.S. Embassy in Manila is the one that would review the work contracts, immigration paperwork, and applications of the laborers, Cacdac said.

The embassy declined to address this case specifically.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security would not say whether it is investigating Grand Isle Shipyard.

The civil suit is pending and could take years to resolve.

If you have information about Grand Isle Shipyard or its immigrant workers, contact bmccarthy@wwltv.com.

<p>Immigrant workers' entry into this country is overseen by two countries and multiple federal agencies, but a group from the Philippines went mostly unnoticed until three of them died, advocates said.</p><p>An oil platform owned by Houston-based Black Elk Energy exploded Nov. 16, killing three Filipino workers and injuring three others. </p><p>The explosion brought renewed attention to the treatment of Filipino workers by Grand Isle Shipyard, the Galliano-based company that provided the workers.</p><h3>How's it work?</h3>
<p>Hans Cacdac, the head of the Philippines Overseas Employment Administration, explained the process of bringing workers to Louisiana.</p><p>A licensed Filipino recruiter first links up with an overseas company. The two must get accreditation and register in the Philippines. </p><p>Once approved, and with contracts signed, the workers go to the U.S. Embassy for a visa.</p><p>The work contract signed by the former workers who filed suit is with DNR Offshore and Crewing Services or D&R Resources, both of which have links to Grand Isle Shipyard executives.</p><p>Cacdac said rules prohibit Grand Isle Shipyard from serving as its own recruiting company.</p><p>"That is something we will look into," Cacdac said.</p><p>Grand Isle Shipyard attorney David Korn denied any affiliation between his client and the recruiting companies, but Secretary of State records link them.</p><h3>Documents show a link</h3>
<p>Randolf Malagapo and Danilo Dayao, both of the Philippines, and Bryan Pregeant, Grand Isle Shipyard's vice president, created Louisiana-based D&R Resources Inc. in July 2006, records show.</p><p>The company used the same address — 18838 La. 3235, Galliano — as Grand Isle Shipyard. Six months later the company's name changed to D&R Offshore Inc. It dissolved in September 2008.</p><p>The three men are also behind other companies with similar names. D&R Resources was created in January 2007, the same day Malagapo and Pregeant's other company changed its name.</p><p>Records show D&R Resources is an active business and has had three directors: Malagapo, Dayao and Cutiepie Nilfil R. Peralta. Its business address is a Golden Meadow house owned by Pregeant and occupied by Malagapo.</p><p>Contacted there in December, Malagapo declined an interview request.</p><p>"I'm not supposed to talk to you about it because this is already in the court," he said. "So we'll just leave it to the court."</p><p>He also repeatedly denied a link between Grand Isle Shipyard and D&R Resources.</p><p>But Malagapo's signature is on Grand Isle Shipyard work certifications. His name is included on Grand Isle Shipyard letterhead as the company's treasurer and executive manager. And his email address is tied to Grand Isle Shipyard's website.</p><p>Documents show Grand Isle Shipyard executives are also behind Thunder Enterprises, another company that helped bring Filipino workers to Louisiana under a specialized visa. The paperwork notes that D&R Resources Inc., is a 50/50 joint venture between Malagapo and Dayao and Thunder Enterprises.</p><p>Thunder Enterprises is a Louisiana corporation established in 1996. Its directors are Mark Pregeant, the CEO of Grand Isle, and Bryan and Brad Pregeant, its vice presidents.</p><p>The immigration paperwork states that Thunder Enterprises invested $200,000 in D&R Resources Inc. in the form of two $100,000 promissory notes secured by Malagapo's and Dayao's real estate holdings in the Philippines.</p><p>Under this set-up, the companies can bring Filipino laborers here under a specialized E-2 investor visa, which allows workers to stay longer. It's also renewed more easily.</p><p>The E-2 visa is for people coming to this country to develop and direct a significant business interest. It does not apply to ordinary skilled or unskilled workers, according to the U.S. State Department.</p><p>Several workers had E-2 visas, but said they weren't sure what the terms meant.</p><p>Asked if he had invested in any recruiting company, Ferdinand Garcia said, "No, they just want us to pretend, I think, to be an investor."</p><p>Yet another company, DNR Offshore and Crewing Services, employed the workers who died in the platform explosion.</p><p>Created in 2008, DNR Offshore and Crewing Services is based in the Philippines and registered with the Philippines Overseas Employment Administration.</p><p>Records show Peralta, the same man behind D&R Resources, is the head of DNR Offshore and Crewing Services. More than a dozen Filipino workers said the company's name includes initials of the first names of the three men behind it – Danilo Dayao, Nilfil Peralta and Randolf Malagapo.</p><h3>Who's in charge?</h3>
<p>Cacdac said his office doesn't have any complaints on file against DNR Offshore and Crewing Services, and "we are still trying to see if whether there are criminal investigations going on the American side."</p><p>No one from the U.S. government has contacted him, he said.</p><p>Ferdinand Garcia said he called the Philippines Overseas Employment Administration years ago to complain. </p><p>"I used to talk to them back in 2010. December of 2010," he said. "I told them about the unsafe acts of (Grand Isle Shipyard) and the things that they were doing to us."</p><p>Garcia said he was told to take his complaints to the recruitment company who hired him.</p><p>Cacdac can recommend the Philippine government open a criminal or civil investigation. But his office receives more than 4,500 complaints a year and just 16 investigators. </p><p>And, Cacdac says, his office isn't solely responsible. </p><p>"Once that worker is in the U.S., then obviously, that worker is under the jurisdiction of U.S. law and the policy," he said. "At that point, it is the receiving country, in this case the United States, that now handles the welfare and working conditions, etc, of that migrant worker."</p><p>The U.S. Embassy in Manila is the one that would review the work contracts, immigration paperwork, and applications of the laborers, Cacdac said.</p><p>The embassy declined to address this case specifically.</p><p>The U.S. Department of Homeland Security would not say whether it is investigating Grand Isle Shipyard.</p><p>The civil suit is pending and could take years to resolve.</p><p>If you have information about Grand Isle Shipyard or its immigrant workers, contact bmccarthy@wwltv.com.</p>